Join the Club
by ohmytheon
Summary: When Jean Havoc and his loyal daemon Hiroko meet his new superior officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mustang, for the first time, they're more than a little caught off guard by the man's daemon. Looks like they're in for one surprise after another.
**Author's Notes:** So this isn't as Royai as it could be, but it still is and it's more subtle. I planned on it just being latter prompt (whatever I wanted), but then realized that the other requested prompt actually fit it as well, so I decided to work both into it. I mentioned ages ago about how Team Mustang responded to first seeing Roy's and Riza's daemons upon joining the team. I've written about Havoc's daemon the most out of Team Mustang and decided to write about that moment since I love writing Havoc. Talking to **stupidsexymustang** definitely inspired me as well as she loves Havoc even more than I do and seems to know his daemon just as well. Timeline-wise, this would be set before the last scene in my original daemon fic, **"rummaging in our souls".**

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

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 **Join the Club**

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The first time Havoc steps into Roy Mustang's office, it's not impressive. Recently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and stationed in Eastern City, Mustang hasn't established himself here yet, but it's still hard not to be intimidated by someone whose nickname is the Hero of Ishval. Havoc admittedly hadn't seen much of the Ishval War himself, having only been shipped out there during the last bit of it when it seemed more like cleaning up than fighting, but he knows about the Flame Alchemist. It's whispered that he ended the War himself, although that seemed improbable. It's also said that he has one of the most threatening daemons out there.

Hiroko snorts at his side. She's not afraid of anything, certainly not any other daemon. He decides not to remind her of their brief time in Ishval when she would howl at the sound of a bomb dropping. She hadn't like war, but since she agreed with his decision to join the military, they didn't have much choice in the matter.

 _He's just a man,_ Hiroko declares, _and she's just a daemon._

Yeah, a man that could obliterate a city with the snap of his fingers, or so the tale went.

Havoc was stationed at Eastern HQ since he joined the military, having been from the area. It was a tense situation since Ishval was so close, but things quieted down after the end of the war. Unfortunately, he found himself in a bit of a pickle when it turned out that his original commanding officer had been killed in the war. Many soldiers were left in such situation as Eastern began to piece itself back together again, and so new teams began to form and soldiers were recruited into other divisions or transferred to a new headquarter altogether. It still caught him off guard to receive an official request from Lieutenant Colonel Mustang.

"Why would he want to see us?" Havoc asks himself out loud as they walk through HQ.

"Well, you do have an excellent marksman' ability," Hiroko says, confident as ever, "and you were almost top of your class."

Although they're in their early twenties now and she's been settled for ten years, Havoc thinks that Hiroko still has a bit of pup in her. She's brazen and full of energy, willing to speak her mind even if it gets them in trouble. He's never minded that, considering they're almost always thinking the same thing. She's more confident in him than he is though. When he first suggested joining the military instead of working at their family's general store, she was the one to push him forward and support him the most.

"Yeah, but he has the Hawk's Eye on his team already," Havoc points out. "Who needs another sniper on their team when you have her?"

Second Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye is also another person that he has heard greatly about. Her name is whispered less than Mustang's, but she's especially well-known in all the sharpshooters' circles. His scores at the Academy were outstanding and his instructors always remarked on his quick-thinking abilities, but he never could best those of Cadet Hawkeye. He only saw her once from a distance in Ishval as she sat perched in her sniper's nest, her daemon hidden from sight, but he knew about her deeds from other snipers. He's good, but she's another level entirely. There is no competing with her.

"You've got other good qualities," Hiroko reassures him. "You're a well-rounded soldier known for solid field work."

Havoc scratches the back of his head. "I don't exactly have an…exemplary or clean record."

"So you've gotten into a few scuffles here and there," Hiroko scoffs, shaking her head at him. She might not think it a bad thing, but his superior officers thought otherwise. He was never labeled a troublemaker, but he knows that he is on a thin rope. Havoc can't seem to help himself though. It's like he's wired to fight for the little guy. And if Hiroko ever sees a daemon bullying another, she always throws herself into the middle of it. "You were doing the right thing. Soldiers are supposed to protect people, not bully them."

The urge to sigh bubbles up in Havoc, but he squashes it right away. Even now, Hiroko is still idealistic about their role in the military. He supposes it's because they didn't spend much time fighting in Ishval - they didn't see all the damage that was done - but he's begun to think that maybe it's the other way around. All the military does seems to be bullying people into doing what they want. He keeps quiet about that though, if only because he still wants to believe in that same hope as well.

Once they reach their destination, Havoc stops and looks at the door, Hiroko heeling at his side. It's just a door. Behind it is just a man and his daemon. It's just a job. And it would be nice to be on an actual team again instead of floating around where he's needed. Havoc has always been a team player. He did sports as a kid and he works in the military now. He likes belonging to a group of people. Mustang is on the track to the top too, so maybe, if he works hard enough, he can ride the coattails. Havoc isn't ashamed of doing that. It's part of being in the military.

"Well, might as well go in," Havoc says before knocking on the door.

A muffled yet strong male's voice calls, "Come in," and Havoc steps inside. Hiroko follows him at his side, the perfect picture of a soldier's daemon. She's excitable and a tad bit goofy, but she also knows how to play the part of military precision as well. She can listen to commands, be completely silent and still, and follow suit wherever he goes. Plus, that energy came in handy when they'd been forced to run drills all day. While other daemons lay exhausted and drained, she still had enough energy to trot about and grin at everyone.

The stories, it seems, are just true. There, sitting at Roy's side, is one of the largest daemons that Havoc has ever seen. The wolf looks wild and capable of tearing into any daemon. The scar across his face looks fierce, only enhancing the wolf's menacing appearance. He feels Hiroko's spark of hesitation before she steels herself. It's a wolf. She can handle that. She might be a dog, but they're of the same family. Besides, she's never met a daemon that has forced her to back down. Mustang's daemon might be powerful and a hint terrifying as she stares them down, but Hiroko will not show a hint of fear.

"You asked to see us, sir?" Havoc asks once they stand in front of the desk.

Mustang hums quietly and murmurs the word "us" - or at least, Havoc thinks so. He doesn't know why that could be of note. He and Hiroko have always referred to each other as one. Maybe that's a bad thing, but it's just how they work. She feels what he feels and vice versa. They're one in the same. She's his soul, after all.

As Havoc and Hiroko stand in front of the desk without moving, the wolf daemon eyeing them unblinkingly, Roy rifles through the papers on his desk. "As you know, I've recently be assigned here and was told to assemble a team of my own. Your record is quite impressive."

Havoc shrugs his shoulders. "We're just here to do our job, sir."

 _Be more confident,_ Hiroko chides him. _This is the Flame Alchemist we're talking to now._

 _I thought he was just a man,_ Havoc returns snidely.

Never once during the mental exchange does Hiroko look away from staring forward, but he can feel her glare even without her looking at him. Sometimes she forgets that he teases just as much as she does. The two of them bleed together too regularly. It makes him want to smile, but he refrains from doing so, keeping a blank expression on his face. That's what the military likes, after all.

"Doing your job…" Mustang rifles through the papers. "And does getting into fights with other officers a part of that, Warrant Officer?"

Despite his normal ability to retain complete composure, Havoc's face flushes red. Before he can say anything though, Hiroko jumps in, "We were merely doing what was right, sir!" Havoc manages to glance at Hiroko for a second before his eyes flicker back to Mustang and his wolf daemon. He is amazed to find an almost amused look on the wolf's face. He knows from reading books on daemons that wolves tend to be more expressive, but that isn't the expression he was expecting.

However, when the wolf finally steps forward and begins to walk towards them, he stiffens. Havoc didn't realize just how _large_ the daemon was until he stood up. She has to be nearly double the size of Hiroko, who is only a normal-sized female German Shephard daemon as it is. He thought female wolves were smaller, but this daemon wolf is large and admittedly frightening. She could kill a man if it wasn't so taboo to touch another human. Hell, she could still do so if she tore into any human's daemon. The cut of her smile is equally frightening as she circles Havoc and Hiroko, examining them with such careful vigor.

"What do you think?" the wolf asks her human, her voice surprisingly deep and low. It almost sounds male.

"I think we have some troublemakers on our hands," Mustang replies.

Hiroko stands up, her hackles raised, despite Havoc's attempts to mentally soothe her. She's ignoring him now. She does not like insults to their character, even if the one insulting them is single-handedly the most terrifying daemon they have ever met. "Call us what you will," she states hotly, "but if someone is being hurt, we will not stand by and watch." Her brown gaze shoots between the wolf and Mustang. "Are you here to berate us or recruit us? I don't enjoy having our time wasted."

Mustang smiles. His wolf daemon quirks an eyebrow. Hiroko nearly lets out a low growl, but halts herself when Havoc brushes his hand against her head. The door opens behind him, and the two of them glance backwards to watch as a young short-haired blond woman steps inside. Obviously, it's Second Lieutenant Hawkeye, but before Havoc can get a word out, the wolf daemon bounds towards her and brushes into her legs, pushing his head into her stomach and warmly rubbing against her.

The first thought to cross through Havoc's mind is, _What the hell?_ The second is, _What in the bloody hell?_

He thought… They thought… The wolf daemon was Mustang's, wasn't it? But now as he thinks back, the wolf never touched Mustang, not once. The wolf stood to the side and circled the lot of them, but never touched Mustang. The second Hawkeye stepped into the room, the wolf rushed towards her and pushed its body against her like it hadn't seen her in years, its gaze adoring and open. Havoc can only remember Hiroko looking at him like that before. The wolf daemon isn't Mustang's; it's Hawkeye's.

Before Havoc can even compute the fact that another person daemon was parading about as someone else's (and here he thought Mustang's daemon was supposed to be frightening), a goddamn lion pads into the room, proud as can be. Larger than even the wolf, sleek and dangerous, the lioness walks into the room filled with as much pride as can be, head up, each step carefully measured, a tiny smirk somehow on its face. Havoc and Hiroko watch with wide eyes as the lion walks up to Mustang's desk, at level with it, and then leaps up to place its front paws on top of the desk.

Mustang frowns slightly. "They'll make me pay for a new desk if you mark this one, Shula."

The lionness snorts derisively and then backs down, landing back on her front paws so that she's standing on all four and tossing her head to the side. The wolf, which is now standing resolutely at Hawkeye's side, barks out a laugh, but says nothing, even when the lion shoots it a glare. Everything the two of them thought was wrong. The wolf belongs to Hawkeye; the lion belongs to Mustang. Holy hell, Mustang has a lion daemon. The rumors say that his daemon is frightening, not terrifying. And why was Hawkeye's daemon parading about with him instead of his own? Why did they switch like that?

Just what in the hell were they getting into?

After the four of them had their seemingly telepathic conversation, Mustang returns his attention back to Havoc, who tries to stand up straighter. Hiroko still refuses to sit down even now as the wolf and lion daemons both circle her, the wolf horrifyingly serious and the lion grinning manically. He won't back down; neither of them will. This is their ticket. This is their ride. Havoc knows that this is a test and he won't fail. All of this was meant to throw the two of them off, but they've got this. He and Hiroko know each other too well to let this cause them to stumble. Mustang might pull a few tricks, but they won't fail. The fact that he's pushing Havoc already means that he's serious and Hiroko likes that.

Hiroko likes the way that the lion and wolf daemon don't go easy on her for being a so-called domestic daemon and Havoc finds that her exhilaration pushes him forward more than he's ever felt before.

 _This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you've ever had,_ Hiroko tells him. She grins up at him, so open to him that it almost makes him laugh. _Of course I'm in._

Mustang leans back in his chair, a smug look written on his face. "So you'll join us?"

Out of the corner of his eyes, Havoc could've sworn that he saw the lion daemon brush into Hawkeye's palm before returning to Mustang's side. The wolf daemon is much more proper now, staying at his human's side and even heeling like a dog daemon would do. Hiroko rolls her eyes. The wolf is good at pretending to be a dog, but not good enough. He's much too large. He'll have to learn – from a natural, of course. And Havoc knows just the right daemon for the job.

"Ready for orders, sir," Havoc responds as he straightens up and salutes. Even Hiroko beams with pride.

Mustang and Hawkeye exchange nods. Mustang's lion daemon lifts her head up high. Hawkeye's wolf daemon snorts. It's the beginning of a team. Havoc doesn't know where this is heading, but he knows that it's going somewhere. The wolf steps forward and bumps into Hiroko good-naturedly, welcoming her to the team, and Havoc feels Hiroko's warmth blossom in his chest. One doesn't just hop onto a team with people that have a lion and a wolf for daemons, but they already feel like they belong in a family.

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riza hawkeye - northwestern wolf/northern timber wolf - wojciech (pronounced "VOI-chekh"): means "soldier" + "solace, comfort, joy"  
roy mustang - african lion - shula: means "flame" in arabic  
jean havoc - german shepherd dog - hiroko: means "tolerant, generous," "abundant," and/or "prosperous" + "child" in japanese


End file.
